The Great Escape, in Parts
by pony-girl298
Summary: The Malfoys are ordered to keep Tilly in captivity until Voldemort is "ready for her." They take her wand but that doesn't mean she's powerless. Muggle creativity plus pure-blood pretension equals hilarity and chaos. T for mild violence, language
1. Day One

A/N: All thiings from the Harry Potter world belong to J.K. Rowling, who we all love and revere. :)

* * *

Tilly woke up feeling sore all over. She sat up and looked around. She was in an opulent bed decorated with green and black satin. The whole room was green and black and silver.

The last thing she remembered was being attacked by Death Eaters. And now she was here. She jumped off the bed and reached for her wand. It was gone. She gasped and looked around wildly. It wasn't on the table, or the floor that she could see. Tilly grabbed the bed sheets and pulled them off the bed. She shook and shook but no wand fell out.

Where was she?

Tilly walked the he window, looking for some indication of where she was. Perfectly manicured lawns and gardens stretched out. She could see a driveway with a high imposing gate. Tilly turned back to the room. Then she saw it.

On the table was a family portrait. Draco Malfoy smiled out from it. On either side were his parents. She was in the Malfoy Manor.

Damn. Panic rushed through her. She had to get out of here.

Tilly went to the door and found that it was locked. She ran to the window but it was a four storey drop and there was nothing that she could climb down, not even a drain pipe.

Tilly ran back to the door and pounded it with her fists.

"Let me out!" she screamed. "Let me out!" She banged the door until she was exhausted and screamed until her throat gave out. There was no answer. No matter how hard she pounded no one came. She couldn't hear anything from outside. It was like the place was deserted.

Tilly lay on her back in the middle of the floor, trying to remember the events of last night. She had been attacked by at least three Death Eaters while out jogging. Then there was darkness. There were bits and pieces of conversation that seemed to float in from the darkness, stuff about Voldemort and a plan and she kept hearing her name. It didn't make any sense.

She had to get out of here.

Tilly got up and walked around the room. How to get out? She went into the bathroom and went through the cabinets. There was no knife, nothing sharp to pick the lock. She went back into the bedroom. How to get out? Tilly ran to the desk and pulled open the drawers: Paper, pens, stapler. Not even a letter opener.

Tilly's eyes stopped on a decorative glass paper weight. She picked it up and weighed it in her hand. It was heavy.

She walked to the door and slammed the paper weight as hard as she could on the knob. Her whole arm shook and her shoulder screamed in pain. She bashed the weight on the knob again, and again. The knob gave, bit by bit, until it fell off the door. Tilly jammed her finger in the hole and pushed the locking mechanism open. She threw her shoulder against the door. It swung open.

She was out.

Sort of. She looked around. How do you get out of this house?

Tilly started running. She knew that she was on the fourth floor so if she went down enough stairs she'd be out. She ran left, right, left again, dead end. She turned around and went the other way this time. Left, Left, right, another dead end. God, who designed this house?

Stairs! Tilly nearly did a happy dance. Instead she ran down as fast as she could.

Then an elf showed up. Tilly slammed on the brakes so fast she nearly got whiplash.

"I is sorry, Miss," The elf raised a single finger. There was a crack and Tilly felt herself being thrown through the air. Everything went black.


	2. Day Two

**Day Two**

The next thing Tilly knew she was waking up back in the bedroom.

She stood up with a feeling of déjà vu. Her wand was still missing. The room was identical, except the paper weight was gone. Tilly walked to the door. They had added a big dead lock to the door. Tilly ran her hands over it. She could feel the protective charm radiating through it.

No more breaking out that way.

She turned and saw a note and a bell on the table.

_Ring bell when you are awake._

Tilly picked up the bell and rang it. For being so small it filled the room. Even when it stopped ringing, Tilly could hear it ringing in the hallway, magically summoning her captors.

Hmm, maybe she didn't want to do that. Still, the Malfoys hadn't tortured her for trying to escape yesterday, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad?

Tilly looked out the window. The view was identical. She was in the same room as before. Tilly sat down on the bed and waited for someone named Malfoy to show up.

She didn't have to wait long. Lucius Malfoy strode through the door followed closely by Draco. Both had their wands drawn and pointed at Tilly.

Surprisingly, Tilly wasn't afraid. She just wasn't afraid of them.

"Hello Miss Parker," Lucius's voice was so cold. "Do sit down, we have much to discuss."

"What's there to discuss?" Tilly asked. She might not be afraid of them, but it was probably prudent not to antagonize a man with a wand, especially when he was her prison guard.

"I thought yesterday's stunt would be a good place to start."

Tilly smirked. "I didn't actually escape and you fixed the door easily enough, so what's the problem?"

Lucius's face was unreadable. Tilly glanced at Malfoy Junior. His face was identical. Tilly wondered if he was capable of independent thought or if Daddy controlled that too.

"The Dark Lord has expressed his... Interest in you. Until he is ready for you, you will be our guest," Lucius said. "You will not escape, Miss Parker, no matter what you do."

Tilly's smirk widened. "Is that an invitation to try, Mr. Malfoy?"

Lucius continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Your every need will be provided for. Simply ring the bell and someone will come.

Tilly scoffed. "An elf? Sure, because I'm so fond of them especially after yesterday."

For the first time, a line crossed Lucius's face. "We dismissed our elf after her failure yesterday."

Wow, harsh punishment for nothing. If Tilly had actually escaped, maybe the sacking would be justified. But this? Tilly almost felt sorry for the elf. But not too sorry. It had knocked her unconscious yesterday.

"You will stay here and you will cooperate with the Dark Lord's plan." Lucius shot her a look that dared her to argue and left, with Junior behind him. She listened to him put layers of protective charms over the door. The footsteps faded away.

Tilly noticed that he said nothing about what this plan was. She wondered if he knew what it was. She doubted it. Voldemort didn't seem like the sharing type.

Regardless, Tilly had to escape. She didn't care what the plan was, she wanted no part in it.

An absurd thought drifted into her head. What would James Bond do? He'd get the guard to open the door then beat the crap out of him before making his escape. Tilly might not have a tuxedo but she could do the rest of it. Maybe if her guard was "indisposed" she'd have time to get out before they set the elf on her.

She picked up the ridiculous little bell and rang it. She listened to it echo through the house. Then she stood behind the door and waited.

She heard footsteps outside her door and the protective charms being removed. She vaguely wondered who would have answered her bell.

The handle turned and the door opened. Tilly held her breath. She held the door and kept swinging it, so that the person on the other side would think it was just momentum. A foot appeared at the bottom of the door.

Tilly threw her weight against the door, slamming it as hard as she could. There was a bang as wood door connected with someone's head. Tilly whirled around to the other side. Draco was doubled over clutching his head. Tilly put one hand on each shoulder and rammed her knee into his groin. He crumpled on the floor.

Tilly jumped over him, grabbed his wand and started running. She ran left, right, right again. She ran and tried to remember how she'd managed to find the door last time. Stairs, she had to find stairs. Tilly kept running.

There were the stairs! Tilly felt like she found them faster than yesterday but it was hard to tell. She really should have made a map. But she didn't plan on being in this house long enough to need a map.

Tilly practically flew down the stairs. She ran for the door, flicked the lock, grabbed the handle and pulled. It opened.

Freedom! Tilly ran. Fresh air filled her lungs. Wind blew in her hair. Sunlight warmed her skin. Freedom!

Tilly heard the door bang open behind her. Without slowing down, she glanced back. All she could see was blond hair. That could be any of them. One third of the Malfoys didn't have a wand right now, so there was a third of a chance that she'd get away.

"STUPEFY!" screamed a voice. Tilly crumpled on the ground and everything went black.

Just Tilly's luck, it was one of the other two who had a wand.


	3. Day Three

**Day Three**

Tilly woke up back in the bedroom. She was getting tired of being knocked unconscious and waking up in this damn bedroom.

She had to get out of here. Every moment that she was in that house it felt like a giant weight was pressing down on her, crushing her. That weight was named Voldemort. Voldemort and his evil, twisted plan that somehow involved Tilly.

Tilly got off the bed and walked around the room. She slowly evaluated everything for its usefulness or its weakness. The door was deadlocked from the outside and bound with layers of protective charms. The window was locked but not magically guarded. That was an option. But it was four storeys off the ground. She had no way of getting to the ground once she got out of the window without killing herself.

Was there really no way out?

What would James bond do? Nothing. By now James Bond would have escaped, disposed of the bad guy and would be making out with the girl. Tilly sighed. She was not James Bond. But she refused to be the girl who sat there and screamed while someone else rescued her.

Tilly needed an idea. She rifled through her purse. Her wand was gone but everything else was there: Her wallet, her compact and her cigarettes. She gasped. Her cigarette lighter was there too. That was the weakness with these pure-blood types. They were so dependent on magic they had no creativity. Tilly herself was half-blood, the best of both worlds. The Malfoys probably didn't think that the lighter would be useful in her escape. Dumb pure-bloods.

Tilly went into the bathroom and rifled through the cabinets. She needed rubbing alcohol, aerosol disinfectant, something flammable. Hair spray! Tilly nearly did a happy dance. This must be a girl's room.

She took it back into the bedroom and began pulling books off the shelves. Books on Black and Malfoy Family lineage were the first that she ripped up and threw in the pile. Next were books on the dark arts. The pile was huge now. Tilly smiled.

She went to the window and felt around the edges carefully. They hadn't put and charms on the window. It was on the fourth floor, with nothing around to climb down so they probably hadn't thought it necessary. Guess again. The window was bolted shut so Tilly grabbed a chair and bashed at the window until it broke.

She stood before the pile of books, with the lighter in one hand and the hairspray in the other. With a quick motion, the hairspray became a flamethrower and the books ignited. Tilly pulled the sheets off the bed and threw them on the flames, watching the fire burn through the Malfoy family crest. That's right, burn you bastards. The flames were as tall as she was.

Tilly took a cigarette out of her purse and lit it. Then she sat by the open window to wait. That was all that was left to do now. They'd come.

Maybe she couldn't get out but she could make their lives hell.

It only took two minutes for Lucius and Draco to come rushing in, blasting water from their wands.

"Hello, boys," Tilly waved at them from across the smoke. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Did you bring any marshmallows?"

Lucius said nothing. His face was a mask of fury. He crossed the room to her and slapped her, backhanded, across the face. Tilly cried out and fell off the window seat.

"How dare you set fire to MY HOUSE!" he roared at her. Tilly, still kneeling on the floor took a moment to master herself. The way to infuriate him was to not care. Tilly got up from the floor. Her cigarette was still lit, so she picked it up. Ignoring the burning feeling in her cheek she took a slow drag and blew smoke in Lucius's face.

Lucius let out a wordless cry, grabbed the cigarette from her and jabbed the smouldering tip into her arm.

Tilly screamed and tried to pull back but he held her fast.

Suddenly, Draco was next to them. "The fire is out, father," he said.

Lucius gave him a quick glance before returning his gaze to Tilly.

"Everything that you do will be returned to you tenfold, understand?"

Tilly said nothing. She was trying to keep back her tears. Lucius threw her to the ground at Draco's feet and stormed out. Tilly tried to keep her composure; Draco was still there, after all. But it was almost impossible. She didn't think she had enough self control to stand up and keep from crying at the same time, so she opted for remaining on the ground.

"He's gone," Draco said.

Tilly swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know."

"You can get up now."

Tilly bit her lip as pain surged through her, literally and figuratively. She didn't move. As much as she hated sitting on the floor at his feet she hated even more being ordered around.

"Fine, don't," he muttered. He moved away and fixed the window.

"God, woman, look what you did!" he exclaimed. Tilly turned her head and saw him staring at her handiwork, though probably not with the same level of delight as Tilly.

There was a huge black circle in the ceiling over where the fire had been. The hardwood floor was wrecked. Where the fire was, there was a charred black mark and a smaller hole right in the centre of the fire pit. Tilly smiled despite the pain that shot through her cheek.

"This will take weeks to repair," he complained. "Not to mention the cost."

"You're worried about money?" Tilly scoffed. "Why don't you just reparo it?"

Draco sighed dramatically. "Because, my ignorant little half-breed, reparo can't replicate the complex woodwork that was here before. The Malfoy family crest was right there." He pointed to the hole in the floor.

"Why else do you think I put the fire right there?" Tilly said imitating his finger point.

Draco turned around to retort but she was already walking away. He followed her to the bathroom and leaned in the doorway. He watched her take Polysporin and a band-aid from the medicine cabinet. She sat on the edge of the toilet and dabbed the disinfectant on her burn. As she struggled, one-handed, with the band-aid he went to her.

"Here, let me do it," he snatched it from her and put it on her arm himself. Tilly started.

"Um, thank you?" she said uncertainly.

"I can't stand to see a job done sloppily," he snapped. "And I don't want you wasting band-aids."

He stared at her a long moment.

"You should put some ice on that," he gestured to her eye. Tilly reached up to touch it and cringed as her fingers brushed the bruise.

"I don't have any," she said.

Draco picked a cup off the counter, filled it with water and froze it with a spell.

"It won't melt," he said as he handed it to her.

Tilly took it. "Why are you being nice to me?"

Draco cleared his throat, in that way that people do when they're feeling awkward, but didn't answer. He got up and went back into the bedroom. Tilly followed him.

"Give me that," he grabbed the lighter from her hand. "No more for you Little Miss Pyromaniac." He shot her a very Draco-like look and left, locking and replacing the charms on the door.

Tilly pressed her cup of ice to her cheek and looked at the damage that she caused. She smiled despite the pain. It was working.


	4. Day Four

**Day Four**

The next morning, Tilly was woken up by Draco banging on her door.

"Get decent! You've got five minutes!" he yelled from the other side of the door.

Tilly groaned and rolled over. The bed was too warm, and it was too early.

Draco banged the door again. "Are you awake?"

"Yes!" Tilly yelled back. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She took in the blackened ceiling and the remains of her fire and smiled. Pain shot through her cheek.

"Damn," she muttered as she got up. She went to the mirror and took in the black eye. The ice had helped but it still hurt.

She glanced at the clock. Ok, it wasn't that early, 10 am. Tilly threw on yesterday's clothes, since it was all she had.

She went to the door and banged on her side. "I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille!" she called. Draco entered and grabbed her arm without as much as a good morning.

"Jeez," Tilly teased. "Don't you want to buy me a drink first?"

"Shut up," he muttered as he strode down the hall, dragging her along with him. He finally took her into a room that looked exactly like the one that she just left but reversed.

"Whoa, déjà vu," she said to herself.

"What?"

"Did we fall through the looking glass?"

Her only answer was a grumbling sound from Draco. Confusing him was fun. He held her arm in a vice like grip as he strode around the room.

"We're in, you can let go of me now," Tilly grumbled.

Draco chuckled. "After yesterday's stunt I'm not taking any chances." He held her with one arm and cast protective charms with the other. Tilly heard him casting fire-repellent charms as well as the more usual ones. No more campfires. He also cast charms around the windows. He'd learned from last time.

When he was done he threw her onto the ground.

"Ow!" Tilly said even though it didn't hurt. She was just trying to be irritating. And it was apparently working. A vein throbbed in Draco's forehead.

"So why are you on Tilly-sitting duty?" she asked. "Where's Daddy?"

Draco's face tightened. "He has been sent on an important mission," he said.

"Oh! So you're here all on your lonesome with just Mommy and me?" Tilly laughed hard, more like a cackle. "We're going to have some fun!"

"Look, can't you just behave yourself?" he asked, sounding exasperated. "I don't like you being here anymore than you do."

"Then why don't you let me go?" Tilly taunted. Draco glared at her. She knew why. Voldemort wanted her for some unknown reason. No one would tell her. Tilly suspected that the Malfoys didn't know either.

Tilly sat up and crossed her legs and arms like a kid throwing a temper tantrum. She wanted to slap Draco, take her anger out on him. She settled for sticking her tongue out. Draco threw his arms in the air with an angry sound and stomped out.

Tilly heard the lock click.

She sprang into action immediately. She walked around the room, slowly evaluating everything. What else could she destroy? Books were always easy but he had taken her lighter. It was a minor setback. She'd have to re-assess. She stopped in front of a large tapestry. It depicted the Malfoy family tree. It was ugly but probably not that valuable. And cutting it up with scissors wouldn't attract their attention in a house this large.

She went into the bathroom. It was a beautiful bathroom. White marble, double sinks, a glass shower stall and a big deep bathtub.

She went to the cabinets. All things aerosol had been removed. It made Tilly smile. She had them running. But she still didn't know what to do today. She sat on the toilet lid and pondered. She flicked at the chain on the bathtub plug absently.

It was only after doing this for a few minutes that it hit her. The Bathtub!

Tilly grabbed the plug and jammed it into to the drain. Then she turned on all the faucets. It was a big tub and would take a while to fill, but when it did, it would flood the bathroom. She went to both sinks and did the same to them.

Then she stood over the toilet. She took the toilet paper off its stand and began unravelling it into the toilet. She turned the roll over and over until all the paper was in the toilet. Then she flushed it. As predicted, it clogged and overflowed, gushing cold water all over the bathroom floor.

Tilly gasped as the freezing water lapped over her feet. She hadn't realized how cold it would be. She tiptoed back to the bedroom, dried her feet on the carpet and sat down to wait.

Twenty minutes later, Draco barged into the room, wand blazing. He stopped short when he saw Tilly.

She had gotten bored waiting. So, she had folded herself a pirate hat out of pages from a book and turned the blanket trunk into a pirate ship.

"Avast mateys! Trouble on the horizon!" Tilly raised an empty toilet paper roll to her eye and looked through it at Draco.

She gasped dramatically. "The English Navy off the port bow, captain!"

Draco hadn't moved. He was staring at her like she had grown an extra head.

"What are you doing?" he asked hesitantly.

Instead of answering, Tilly turned around to unfurl her bed sheet sail from it curtain rod mast. "Full speed ahead!"

"You're crazy," Draco stated. He walked past her into the bathroom. She heard him curse. The water probably ruined his shoes. He was like a girl that way. She heard the water turn off and Draco came back into the bedroom. He stood in front of her "ship" and stared at her.

"Seriously, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Playing pirates," Tilly deadpanned.

"I can see that," Draco was talking the way you talk to children. "Why?"

"Because there's three centimetres of water over the floor and I got bored of waiting for you to notice that I was trying to flood your house," she turned her eyes towards the ceiling, screwed up her face dramatically and pretended to think. "Oh, and it's fun."

"Fun?"

"Yes fun. Did you never play pirates as a child?"

"As a child, yes. But we're adults."

"Says who?"

Draco opened his mouth but all that came out was a groan. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you." He grabbed her under the armpits, lifted her bodily out of the blanket chest and threw her down on the bed.

"Ah!" Tilly cried. She bounced off the other side of the bed and ended up on the floor. By the time she'd straightened herself, Draco had already cleaned up her pirate ship with a flick of the wand. Draco stood in front of her.

"Incarcerous!" he said. Ropes came from nowhere and bound her hands behind her back.

"Hey!" she cried again.

"Come on," Draco grabbed the ropes and hauled her to her feet. "And no smart remarks." He marched her out of the room and down the hall.

"Where are we going, Daddy?" Tilly asked in a childish, sing-song voice.

"To another room, Matilda," he taunted. Tilly cringed at the use of her full name. She hated it. What parent names their child Matilda?

"This house is going to run out of space if you keep this up," Draco grumbled.

"Awesome," Tilly laughed. Draco scowled.

He stopped in front of a door, opened it and threw her in. Without the use of her hands, Tilly lost her balance and fell on the floor.

"Aren't you going to Tilly-proof this one?" she asked.

"Already done. I plan to be one step ahead of you until you finally leave."

With a lot of wriggling, Tilly pushed herself into an upright position. She stared at him defiantly. "I will make your life hell. You'll wish you'd just let me go and dealt with Voldemort's punishment."

A flicker passed over Draco's face but he mastered himself, every inch his father's son. He slammed the door and started putting up the protective charms.

"Aren't you going to untie me?" Tilly yelled through the door.

"Do it yourself!" he yelled back. "It'll buy me some peace and quiet."


	5. Day Five

A/N: I know it's been forever since I last updated but I had no new ideas until last week. So, here it is.

**Day Five**

Tilly woke up in a bed. She nearly jumped for joy. The room was different! It was considerably nicer than the last room, which was saying something because the last room was gorgeous. Her sheets were satin. The mattress felt like a cloud. There was a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. This was obviously a room that usually housed someone other than the local prisoner.

Draco was serious about running out of room if he was putting her in this room.

She wandered aimlessly around the room. There was nothing. Nothing. Some books, bedroom furniture, a bathroom that was designed for a psych ward patient. Her new room was covered in protective charms, fire proof and flood proof. There was no door knob on her side of the door. She hated to admit it but she was running out of ideas.

How could there be nothing? How could she, Matilda Parker, have no ideas for chaos making? She didn't even have her purse to give her ideas.

Maybe a bath would help spark her synapses. She might as well; her bathroom was amazing, even if there was nothing destructive in it. Tilly filled the tub and soaked in the warm water. She had found lavender bath bombs and used as many as she'd thought she could without suffocating. Maybe she could kill Draco with her smell... or not.

Tilly lay in the tub until her toes and fingers looked like raisins. She finally got out of the tub when the water started getting cold. She swung her legs over the edge of the tub and stood up. The cold marble floor shocked her feet, making her muscles tighten involuntarily and her legs jerk. Then she was falling towards the marble floor.

She had forgotten to put down a mat. Tilly shot out her hand to grab onto something. The first thing her hand closed around was the towel rack in the wall. But instead of keeping her up, the towel rack ripped out of the wall and followed her crashing onto the ground. It must not have been built to stand a person's weight. Go figure.

Tilly lay on the floor feeling as sore. She stood up gingerly. Her tailbone ached. So did her elbow and her shoulders. She turned to look at the bar that had, a second ago, been a towel rack.

It hit her like a ton of bricks. The walls were just plaster! Tilly threw her clothes on and ran back into the bedroom.

Tilly grabbed a chair and drove the legs at the wall. The wall dented the first time. She pounded the wall again and again. The chair punched holes in the wall where the legs struck it. She started laughing. This was crazy but it was fun. She had no fire, no water but she could still cause chaos.

She turned to another spot on the wall and started attacking it too. She kept it up until the walls looked like a Dalmatian.

She stopped, when she was out of breath, and flopped onto the bed. Draco hadn't shown up. That was surprising. She hadn't been quiet either. Where was he? The only reason she was doing this was to drive him crazy.

Tilly lay on her back and stared up at the chandelier. It was beautiful. Tilly didn't have it on since it was bright out but the crystals sparkled in the sunlight. They sparked especially since the chandelier was swinging a bit from the force of her chair legs hitting the walls.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there, but after a while she heard a knock at the door.

Tilly was feeling too relaxed and frankly lazy, so she ignored it.

The knock happened again, louder. She knew it was Draco, but she really, really didn't feel like talking to him. She closed her eyes. She was feeling very Zen and he'd ruin it.

She heard the door open slowly, like someone wanting to look in but being afraid.

"Tilly?" Draco's voice asked hesitantly. Tilly didn't react. She was desperately holding on to her happy place as it slipped through her fingers and was replaced by carpeting and Draco's irritating voice.

"Tilly?" Happy place gone. Without opening her eyes, Tilly lifted her hand and stuck up her middle finger in Draco's general direction.

She heard him sigh. "You're fine," he said. "Why are you lying on the floor?"

"Because," she muttered, eyes still closed. Maybe she could shut him out and find her happy place again. She heard some shuffling, like feet on the carpet. She opened her eyes in time to see him lie down on the floor at 90 degrees to her. Hmm, interesting.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"The same thing as you are."

"No you're not," she said like you would to a child who'd just told you he was an elephant. "I'm trying to think of ways to drive you crazy. So unless you have a multiple personality disorder you'd like to share with the class..." she let the sentence trail off. He said nothing for a moment.

"I guess I'm trying to understand you," he said finally.

Tilly just scoffed. "Impossible."

"Why is it impossible?"

"Because you're uptight and self-centered."

"I am _not!_" protested Draco, sounding very uptight and self-centered. He propped himself up on an elbow so he could glare down at her. Tilly just laughed.

"No really, where do you get off insulting me?"

Tilly laughed again. "We're the same!" she pushed herself upright and looked at him. "You insult me and I make your life hell. It's a mutually agreeable relationship."

"In what universe?" he gasped.

"In the universe where you have no siblings or friends to do this with." She tipped her head and looked at his downcast face. She'd hit a nerve, clearly.

"You never had the chance to be a child," she continued in a softer voice. "While I've never truly stopped being one."

"I was a child," he protested, though he didn't sound convinced. "Everyone was a child at some point."

"Have you ever played in the dirt?" Tilly challenged. "I used to lift up rocks in my garden and watch the bugs underneath it squirm. Then I'd go into the house, filthy, and Mum would pretend to be impressed by my collection of worms and grubs. She'd listen as I told her all about my adventures that day with the bugs. And then she'd run me a bath and clean me up and we'd have supper." Draco still hadn't said anything or made eye contact. "Not much like your childhood, is it?"

"No," he said. "I fell off my broom once. I was six. I broke my arm and managed to stagger back to the house. My mother just looked...disgusted. I was dirty, bloody and crying. She didn't even give me a hug. She had a lunch to go to and she didn't want to get her clothes dirty so she just walked away. The house elf took me to St. Mungo's."

The silence descended over them again. Draco looked sad. Reliving the memory was clearly painful. There's a moment in every child's life when they realize that their parents aren't infallible. Not everyone remembers the moment but it's usually some degree of traumatizing. This was clearly Draco's.

"You know, that doesn't mean she doesn't love you," Tilly said, breaking the silence.

This stirred Draco into action. He stood abruptly. He straightened his shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles in his trousers. A moment ago, he was six and innocent. As soon as he stood, he was seventeen and damaged again.

"Stop psychoanalysing me," he ordered. It sounded like he was forcing the anger into his voice, like it wasn't there naturally anymore. He strode to the door, back in control of himself. He paused on the threshold of the room and looked at the wall, noticing the damage for the first time. He flicked his wand and repaired the wall. All of Tilly's hard work was erased in an instant.

He slammed the door. As he began replacing the protective charms, Tilly lay back down again. The sun had moved so the chandelier didn't sparkle anymore. But Tilly knew that given the right circumstances it would sparkle again.


	6. Day Six

**Day Six**

Tilly had managed to find a decent book on the shelf. She was sprawled across her bed reading. She hated to admit it, but she was out of ideas. So, she was reading. Maybe the silence would freak Draco out.

The book was _Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_. She had been surprised to find so many muggle books on the shelves. The Malfoys didn't seem like the type. But it was a good book, so she let it slide. Unless Robert Louis Stevenson was secretly a wizard. That would be cool.

The book reminded Tilly of Draco. When he was like Jekyll he seemed almost kind and she was tempted to feel sorry for him. But then in an instant, he was Hyde again and they were at each other's throats. The difference was that in Draco's case, Hyde was around first and it's Jekyll that only came out periodically. Tilly wondered to herself if there was a way to make him stay as Jekyll for good.

The smell of something burning filled the room, interrupting her thoughts. Tilly covered her nose.

"What is going on?" she muttered to herself. Tilly tried the window but Draco had magically locked it shut. She went and rang the little bell that usually summoned Draco. She waited, and waited and waited. The smell remained. If anything it became more pungent. Tilly sniffed the air. It smelled like burning plastic. She banged on the door.

"Draco, what are you doing?" she yelled. No answer. "If you burn down the house and kill me your boss will kill you!"

There was still no answer. Tilly pulled the sheet off the bed and stuffed as much of it as she could into the crack at the bottom of the door. Hopefully that would block the smell a bit.

Tilly went back to the shelf and looked for another book. _Tarzan of the Apes _jumped out at her. Not because she wanted to read it but because of the idea that it sparked. Tarzan could swing on vines. Tilly looked up. The chandelier looked sturdy enough... right?

Well she was about to find out. Tilly grabbed the dresser and dragged it across the carpet. It was empty so it was light. She turned it so it was perpendicular to the wall and it formed a straight line with the chandelier overhead and the bed at the end. She moved the pillows and the blanket off the bed and arranged them on the floor around it: Padding for the floor in case she fell. Then, she climbed onto the dresser and stood on the very edge. She could almost reach the chandelier but not quite. She'd have to jump for it.

She moved back so she was against the wall, took two running steps across the top of the dresser, and jumped.

Tilly shrieked. It was like being on a trapeze. Her hands closed around the arm of the chandelier and she swung like Jane of the jungle.

"Geronimo!" Tilly let go when the chandelier was at its highest and soared down to land on the bed. She bounced a few times but managed not to fall off. Tilly couldn't stop laughing. That was the most fun ever! Why hadn't she thought of this earlier? Tilly ran around and jumped on the dresser for another go. Was she really a prisoner? Were prisoners allowed to have this much fun? This time when she let go, she bounced off the bed and on to the floor.

"I'm the Queen of the World!" she cried for the whole house, the whole world to hear. She was invincible. Voldemort, do your worst.

But it wasn't Voldemort who came to investigate the crashes and screaming, it was Draco. He stood in the doorway looking like he didn't know whether to faint or cry.

"I - I brought your lunch," he stammered. Tilly got off the floor and saw that he indeed had a sandwich on a plate for her. She bounded over, riding high on adrenaline.

"Thank you, dear," Tilly took the plate and put it down. "I'll eat it in a minute."

She ran around and climbed on the dresser.

"Wait!" Draco yelled before she could start running. Tilly suppressed a sigh. She didn't want him to shut down her party. But then Draco surprised her. He pulled out his wand and enlarged her crash pad, the bed.

"Ok, go."

Tilly gawked at him.

"If you're not going, get off the dresser so I can have a go." If Tilly hadn't seen his mouth move, she wouldn't have believed that the words had come out of him. She jumped down and gave a dramatic gesture.

Draco climbed up. His legs were longer than hers so he crossed the top of the dresser in one step. Tilly watched, amazed, as he jumped off the end, grabbed the chandelier and swung.

A sound of such pure joy escaped his lips. Tilly laughed. He laughed too before letting go and bouncing off the bed.

Well, Tilly wasn't going to question it. She climbed up on the dresser and took her turn. Then he went again. Then she did. They did this for half an hour straight at which point Draco collapsed on the floor.

"I need a break!" he gasped. He lay down and Tilly flopped next to him, mirroring their positions from the day before.

The lay in silence, the only sounds were each of them trying to catch their breaths.

Tilly couldn't understand it. He had joined in. He hadn't gotten angry, or called her crazy, or run screaming from the room. He had joined in. Who was Draco Malfoy? She thought she knew. Maybe this was his evil twin. Or his good twin, the usual Draco was the evil one.

After a while, Draco spoke. "You know, I've been thinking."

"So that's what that burning smell was."

"Oh shut up!" He reached over and swatted at her. Tilly laughed but said nothing more.

"I was thinking about what you said, you know, yesterday," Draco said. "About my Mum."

"Yeah?" Tilly asked quietly.

Draco didn't answer so Tilly waited. He was like a rabbit, or a wild deer. Sudden movements would scare him. Tilly had to be patient and slow.

"I know that my mother loves me," he said after a few moments. "She just doesn't express her emotions well. She's English aristocracy, we're all like that."

Tilly giggled. "Yes, the English aristocracy hasn't changed much in the last two hundred years."

"God forbid." Draco laughed too. Then he stopped. "She's always been there when I needed her. I realise, the incident with my broken arm, I didn't really need her, I needed the Healers at St. Mungo's. But there's another memory that stands out. I had a nightmare and she came and got into bed with me. She gave me a hug and I fell asleep in her arms. When I woke up the next morning, she was still there. She had fallen asleep in a half sitting up position. I realise now that she can't have slept well and must have been very uncomfortable but she did it anyway."

"Mums always know what to do or what to say, don't they?" Tilly said.

"Yes, yes they do."

Draco heaved a sigh and got up off the floor.

"Lunch is going to be late today," he said.

"What happened?" asked Tilly.

"That burning smell you were talking about? I dropped something into the stove element and it smoked so much that it burned the soup," he sighed again.

Tilly noticed for the first time that he looked tired. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he'd lost weight.

"It's cold sandwiches for lunch, and possibly for dinner too," Draco said.

"Ok," said Tilly simply.

He left, locking the door behind him.


	7. Day Seven

**Day 7**

Tilly had a migraine. She had been getting them since she had hit puberty, though they hadn't gotten easier to manage like her period had.

Usually, she drank Madame Pomfrey's special tea and lay in bed in the dark for 24 hours until the migraine went away. She didn't have tea this time. She knew that if she rang Draco would bring her some but the idea of getting up and ringing the bell made her head throb worse than it did already. There would be no getting up, and certainly no ringing bells.

Tilly wasn't sure how long she lay in bed but at some point she dozed off. She dreamed of Hogwarts. In her dream she rushed down corridors and up stairs at an alarming speed. Though she wasn't herself, she could tell that. She wasn't sure whose eyes she was looking out of, but she wasn't herself. She came to the hallway where the Room of Requirements was. The door appeared and she went inside.

The only time Tilly had been in the Room of Requirements was last year during D.A. practice. This wasn't the same room. It was full to bursting with junk. Tables and chairs were stacked on top of each other up to the ceiling. Cabinets full of trinkets whirled and flashed. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. Her dream was silent but she was sure that her footsteps would echo in the room.

She stopped in front of something tall covered by a huge dark cloth. A pale hand reached out and pulled it down.

A tall black cabinet came into view. It had some intricate carvings on the door and gave Tilly a strangely sinister feeling.

Someone faraway was knocking.

Tilly woke up back in the darkness of her bedroom. Someone was knocking on the door. It echoed in Tilly's head like a battle drum.

She groaned. "Go away."

The knock sounded again.

"Go away." Tilly repeated, a little louder and immediately cringed as her head pounded.

The door creaked as it opened. Draco either hadn't heard or was ignoring her. Damn it.

"Tilly?" came his whisper.

Tilly groaned.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked.

"Go away," said Tilly since she knew he could hear her.

"What's wrong?"

"Migraine, go away."

"Oh, is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, you can go away."

Tilly shut her eyes tight. He head felt like it was about to explode. She was in no mood to play therapist to Draco today.

She heard the door click and she sighed with relief. He was being good today.

Then she felt the bed move. He hadn't left. He had just shut the door. Tilly cracked an eye open. Draco was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What?" growled Tilly.

"Are you- um- having a vision?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"That's why the Dark Lord wanted you here," Draco whispered. "You're a seer, aren't you?"

Tilly closed her eyes again. She was in no mood for his crazy talk. She could barely think straight let alone interpret his crazy master's plans.

"A seer?" Tilly asked with as much disdain as she could manage.

Draco ignored her tone. "Have you had any strange dreams?"

Tilly frowned. How had he known? She always had weird dreams when she had migraines but she had never told anyone, not even the Healers when her parents had taken her to St. Mungo's.

"You have, haven't you?" Draco's whisper was urgent. "What was it? They say that visions have to do with the people nearby. Was it about me?"

Tilly made a growling noise. "You want a prediction?" she snapped. "Here's one: you're about to get hit." Tilly shot out her foot and kicked Draco in the butt.

He half jumped, half fell off the bed. He cried out.

The sound echoed in Tilly's ears. She saw stars.

"Shut up!" Tilly groaned.

"You kicked me!" Draco gasped.

"Merlin, just go away!" Tilly reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the first thing she could. It was a candlestick holder. She rolled over and flung it at him.

"Ah!" Draco ran for the door. "You're crazy!"

Tilly grabbed the other candlestick and threw. Draco slammed the door and the candlestick clattered to the floor.

Tilly groaned and burrowed under the blankets. Her head pounded. She whimpered. Another 20 hours of this. Joy.

She slept without dreaming.


End file.
